Florida keeping its veteran players in South Florida as preseason ramps up
Florida keeping its veteran players in South Florida as preseason ramps up
For the first time since last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers are back in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes.
To be fair, the only players on Wednesday night’s roster who were with the team back in May were Zac Dalpe and Lucas Carlsson, and neither played during the Carolina series.
There are several members of last season’s Black Aces who will be playing in Carolina – Grigori Denisenko, Matt Kiersted and John Ludvig – but that group doesn’t travel during the playoffs so they wouldn’t have been there in May.
If you haven’t noticed a theme yet, it’s that the group going on the road trip is full of players battling for roster spots.
None of the Panthers regular veterans, guys like Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Gus Forsling, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, Josh Mahura and Sergei Bobrovsky, will not be making the trip.
Interestingly, the goaltenders going to Raleigh are Spencer Knight and Anthony Stolarz, Florida’s perceived number two and three goalies, though the pecking order is far from being sorted out.
It’s also worth noting that Florida prospect Skyler Brind’Amour will be in the lineup. His dad is Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour, and pop will be behind the Carolina bench coaching against his son.
It should be a great moment for father and son.
The game will be streamed on the Panthers website, with the team providing a link close to puck drop at 7 p.m.
Check out Florida’s full roster for Wednesday night below: